The last 3 times I have been taking a deep breath after the 3rd round and holding. The 2nd time I felt like I was passing out and took a breath. Last night I thought if I kept holding it in, I was easily going to pass out. I had no urge to breath but my mind was starting to wander off. It was interesting and when I did exhale, I had to force myself to inhale for some reason. it wasn't coming naturally.
Anyone here ever try Wim Hof breathwork?
- Thread starter Frederick Foresight
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The last 3 times I have been taking a deep breath after the 3rd round and holding. The 2nd time I felt like I was passing out and took a breath. Last night I thought if I kept holding it in, I was easily going to pass out. I had no urge to breath but my mind was starting to wander off. It was interesting and when I did exhale, I had to force myself to inhale for some reason. it wasn't coming naturally.
Yes, I do it almost first thing, and well within 30 minutes of waking up on my non-workout days. But as I noted in a prior post, workouts come first on workout days. On workout days I do the breathwork after my shower.
I don't know about holding on the inhale being more relaxing and conducive to a meditative state. Although I haven't given it much thought, I find that holding a full breath for any length of time is not as relaxing as holding on the exhale. The exhale is about letting go; I find that more relaxing.
EDIT: Keeping in mind that the exhale is not a full exhale but, as Hof himself says, "letting go."
Which of the two did you find more calming? Holding after the inbreath or after the outbreath.
I have experienced this a couple times, although never feeling like I would pass out. It is a weird sensation when this occurs, as if there is no need to breath and one must make a conscious decision to take a breath.
To me I felt more relaxed/calm after doing the inhale and hold at the end of the 3 rounds, than I felt just doing the 3 rounds of exhales and hold.
I guess maybe it isn't the feeling necessarily of passing out but a thought that I should be breathing enters my mind and I notice that I have a feeling closer to when I do my quiet meditation. A feeling my mind has let go and cleared. It isn't unpleasant like I assume it would be if I was actually approaching the point of passing out.
I guess maybe it isn't the feeling necessarily of passing out but a thought that I should be breathing enters my mind and I notice that I have a feeling closer to when I do my quiet meditation. A feeling my mind has let go and cleared. It isn't unpleasant like I assume it would be if I was actually approaching the point of passing out.
Interesting. How much of an inhale do you gents do just before the breath hold? Is it a full on inhale to the max or something less? The reason I ask is because the one time I tried it I did a max inhale, which I find tenses me up somewhat. Were I to do a partial inhale, perhaps it would feel different. Just that when I do the WHM breathwork, I inhale all the breaths to the very max, and so I did the same for the final breath before the hold as well.
When I do that last inhale, it is deliberately long and very slow, (8-10 seconds), not at all a last gasp, but it is a full inhale. Otherwise, I find, as you experienced, it generates tension which is what I don't want.
Did the nose pinch thing on the last breath hold after the exhale, both yesterday and today. In both cases I went a bit over 2:45 but short of a full 3 minutes. So either I was "microbreathing" before, when I didn't pinch my nose, or the nose holding was disrupting my relaxed state. I can't say for how long I held exactly because very soon after I hit that mark of 2:45 in both instances I kind of lost my bearings for a moment. Not that I went unconscious, but it's like I forgot what I was doing and therefore can't say for sure when I drew breath.
Regarding the breath hold after the inhale, Scott Carney talked about it in his 2 books, both What Doesn't Kill Us, and The Wedge. You will recall from an earlier post Carney is an anthropologist and investigative journalist who set out to expose Hof as a charlatan and then became something of a devotee. In one of his two books on the subject, he refers to so-called "DMT" breathing, which begins with the standard WHM breathwork and is then followed by extended breath holds after the inbreath. But it also includes sequentially tensing the body from feet to head. It is supposed to bring you to another level. Carney wrote that it is not part of the WHM, but that Hof introduced him to it. I haven't tried it the way it is prescribed.
Regarding the breath hold after the inhale, Scott Carney talked about it in his 2 books, both What Doesn't Kill Us, and The Wedge. You will recall from an earlier post Carney is an anthropologist and investigative journalist who set out to expose Hof as a charlatan and then became something of a devotee. In one of his two books on the subject, he refers to so-called "DMT" breathing, which begins with the standard WHM breathwork and is then followed by extended breath holds after the inbreath. But it also includes sequentially tensing the body from feet to head. It is supposed to bring you to another level. Carney wrote that it is not part of the WHM, but that Hof introduced him to it. I haven't tried it the way it is prescribed.
For the last couple of days, I did the WHM as prescribed (with the exception of doing a longer breath hold after last outbreath of each round). However, after taking in the recovery breath, rather than holding for only 15 seconds at the end of the third round, I held until I needed to exhale. I would then take another deep breath and hold again. In each case it was for far less time than the earlier breath holds per the method because it was not immediately preceded by hyperventilation. However, it felt pretty good and fairly calming. So I might tack on such breath holds as a matter of course at the end of the third round. Still under consideration. Any thoughts?